Typical Labour Spin - Raising "Toffs"

This is a typical example of the new lows this Labour government can get down to.

The spin here is that kids can be educated like "toffs" at Eton and Marlborough because the MOD is wasteful and pays such "High" allowances to its employees. The charge is that the allowance that is paid to parents is too high and for just a few more thousand they can get their children educated at schools such as Eton and Marlborough.

The maximum allowance is 7,700 pounds per term , which of course sounds rather high but when factored against the average cost of Boarding Schools which is running at over 20,000 pounds per year, suddenly becomes a little bit more understandable. The maximum available to MOD personnel is a lower figure of 5111 pounds per term and is also subject to a minimum 10% parental contribution from parents. Also remember that many of the people receiving this allowance may be "other ranks" it is not restricted to Officers only.

Also as I have just found out the maximum allowance of £7628 is payable only to special needs children. The normal maximum being the £5111 mentioned earlier.

Let's not forget that the people who could receive this allowance could be anyone in the forces who are posted to slightly out of the way places where the type or standard of education available is not suitable for UK children.

I and my brother were among those who were in this situation back in the early seventies when my father was posted to a couple of out of the way overseas locations where there were no longer any suitable local schools. Luckily we were at or just about to go to a State School that had boarding places so my father was relatively little out of pocket for providing our education.

There are currently only about 35 state schools that provide boarding, many of these boardings schools are over-subscribed and may still be selective so the choice is limited particularly when the cost of boarding at these schools tends to be considerably lower than the Eton's and Marlborough's.

The real story here is not the amount of the allowance but that Blunkett and his cohorts in the Labour Cabinet have been told to squeeze the coffers as the money has run out. Spinning this as an attack on Toff's is just part of Labour's typical nasty spin. Maybe the Government will be using the money saved to finance MP's allowances instead, because they are worth much more than the education of service brats.


David Blunkett Calls For Review Of School Grants Paid To Government Employees |Sky News|Politics